James Potter and the Eight Marauders
by Ice Angel
Summary: James Potter enters Hogwarts to find seven very interesting friends...fun fun fun. Rated PG-13 for some violence, (very) mushy scenes, language, and some slash. NOTE: Not really Romance until later.
1. The Four Chosen

_ Author's Note: Yes! And the chapters are officially up! I finally finished this!_

## James Potter and the Eight Marauders

  


###   
Chapter 1

The Sorting passed by quickly in a blur. He watched the three boys he had shared the compartment with get sorted into Gryffindor. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. James remembers his name being called, him walking up to the stool, and having the Sorting Hat shout "Gryffindor!" into the hall. He remembers walking to the Gryffindor table, having his sister, Julia, in Gryffindor and his three new friends cheering him on. James remembers passing the Ravenclaw table, and having his brother, Joshua, give him a rare smile.

However, once Dumbledore started to talk, James Potter's head once regained the clear thoughts. 

"I would like to welcome all the first-years to Hogwarts. I would like to remind everybody that first-years are not allowed any broomsticks, and that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden, hence the name..." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes. 

"It seems as if we have a problem however, with the first-year girls," Dumbledore said. Instantly, all the girls seemed to look frightened. "Don't worry, nothing bad for most of you. But it seems that we had a little mix-up in which I will not go into detail. What I'm going to do is call out a random first-year girl from each House, and they'll live in the extra House that is being built right now by a couple of our teachers. The girls will still be able to go into their own Houses' common rooms, but nobody can enter the new House's unless one of the girls' gives permission."

A rustle of commotion started to weave through the Hall. 

"That's not fair. Why can't the guy's have that too?" Sirius pouted.

"Would you like to live with a Slytherin for the entire seven years?" Remus asked, smiling. 

"Ewww...no," Sirius said, changing his mind quickly.

Peter shot James a look, and James laughed. However, it dwindled down when Dumbledore started to talk once more.

"The new House's name will be chosen by the four girls' own decision."

"Whaaat?!" Sirius cried out in protest. "I think we should all choose a name!"

Peter smiled. "And what names would you suggest, Sirius?"

Sirius suddenly got that wicked grin on his face. "Boogerbrain, Cootiepootie, Wimpettes...I could go on and on."

Professor McGonnagall suddenly rose and handed Dumbledore a piece of paper. 

"And now, the four girls are," Dumbledore said. The entire hall quieted. "From Hufflepuff, Lindsay Fletcher. Please come up."

A little, innocent Irish girl with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes stepped up to the teacher table, and stood, waiting while twiddling her thumbs for her three new roommates for the next seven years. 

"From Slytherin, Alexia Quan."

Alexia, with her long, straight, black hair and grey eyes, also wound her way up to the teacher table. From what James could see, Lindsay was more than just a little afraid of Alexia.

"From Ravenclaw, Lily Oberlin."

Next, a cheerful bright auburn haired girl with green eyes bounced all the way up to the platform. James couldn't help but smile when Alexia looked at Lily with distaste.

"And finally, from Gryffindor, Katherine Blade."

A sudden whooping came from Remus and Sirius as a tough looking eleven year old girl with long dark brown waves and honey colored eyes stomped the way to the teachers table. 

"She's my neighbor," Remus explained. James turned his gaze towards Sirius, who shrugged.

"She's my mom's best friend's daughter."

The evening passed by with laughter and smiles as James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter sang and chirped the night away.

******

In the new House, things were being just as jolly. The four girls were currently unpacking and telling each other about their lives, and were quite enjoying the noiseless atmosphere.

"I've always wanted to be a ballet dancer," Lindsay said in her thick Irish accent while putting her folded clothes neatly into the drawers. "My mom was one, you know."

"Sounds great, but I want to go to college," Lily replied. "Nobody in my family has gone that far in education, and it'll be fun to go."

Katherine was trying to jam all her clothes into one drawer. "Well, I just want to live on my own, be independent. And why won't these clothes go in? I know I don't have that much clothes! Damnit!"

Lindsay and Lily immediately gasped and looked at Katherine in shock. They were eleven.

Alexia, however, just laughed. "Dude, I don't think they welcome profanity here." Katherine shrugged.

Lindsay and Lily still stared with their mouths wide open.

"Oh jeez, you guys," Katherine sighed, while picking up a heavy pillow. "You've got to liven up!" Katherine threw the pillow and it hit Lily square in the head, who shrieked with glee and got her own pillow. Soon, the entire room was filled with fluff and goose feathers while the girls laughed and swung until they were all on the floor, laughing so hard they couldn't move and their stomachs hurt.

"You know, this isn't as bad as I thought," Alexia said as they all settled in bed. "I thought it would be much worse."

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "You and Katherine aren't as stuck up as I thought Slytherins and Gryffindors would be."

"Hey!" Katherine said.

"I take it back," Lily said humbly. "I take it ALL back."

The room filled with little giggles.

"I wonder why they had a new house put in," Lindsay said thoughtfully.

"Who cares?" Katherine replied sharply. "This is the life."

Murmurs of agreement came from dark room, and even Lindsay agreed. 

None of them would know the future. From their cheerful and happy eleven year-old point of view, who could have guessed that two would die before their 25 birthdays and one would have gone crazy, all caused by the man that loved the last one? 


	2. The Marauder House

## James Potter and the Eight Marauders

  


###   
Chapter 2

WHACK! 

James awoke with a start to see Sirius standing above him with a pillow in hand, grinning. James smiled, and got up. Sirius quickly ran over to Remus and Peter, giving them each a hard whack in the face as well. Remus toppled over the bed with a oof and rose scrambling from the mass of sheets sputtering about sugar plums. Peter looked up from his pillow, saw Sirius, groaned, then fell back asleep. The result was Sirius continually whacking Peter in the face until Peter couldn't stand it any longer and sat up. 

They all managed to get dressed and walked down to breakfast, where they received their schedules. 

"Hey, we have Potions with Slytherin...and the Marauders," Peter said, a little puzzled. 

"Whaat?" Sirius exclaimed as he took his own schedule. "The Marauders? Is that the best they could come up with?" 

Remus shot, "I personally think it's better than Wimpettes." 

Sirius stuck his tongue at Remus. 

Peter looked at his watch. "Oh great. It's time for class, guys." 

All four of them trudged the way to Potions. 

Professor McGuire was a mean, tall man who loved to pick on Gryffindors, especially James Potter. 

"Today, I'll pair you up with a partner alphabetically and I want you to complete the Fresh Breath Potion," he said in a nasal tone. He unrolled a scroll, and began to call out from the list. "Luna Alcott and Sawyer Aesop, Sirius Black and Katherine Blade, Lindsay Fletcher and Jane Keller, Remus Lupin and Lucius Malfoy, Lily Oberlin and Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Alexia Quan..." 

The list droned on and on while the students shuffled their way to the rows of tables finding their partners. James Potter sat down next to Alexia Quan, and felt a little discomfort. 

"...could've chosen a better name!" a voice that sounded strangely like Sirius from the back yelled. 

"Like we would choose Wimpette over Marauder!" another voice exclaimed from the back. James swirled around like everybody else to look at the brewing fight between Sirius and Katherine. 

"Well, it would have been much more creative!" 

"Yeah, and we would be laughed out of this school!" 

"And you aren't already?" 

"No, we aren't." 

"Well, HA HA HA. There. You're officially laughed at." 

"You've certainly changed since I saw you last." 

"Thank you." 

"Don't take that as a compliment." 

"Ok, I will." 

"You're such a-" 

At this point Sirius had placed his hand over Katherine's mouth and saying, "What was that? I didn't hear that. You'll have to speak louder..." 

Suddenly, Katherine kicked Sirius in the stomach, which caused him to be quite angry. Thus, Sirius attacked Katherine, who shrieked. Both disappeared behind the desk. James quickly got up and ran over, only to find Katherine sitting on Sirius and poking her finger at his forehead. 

Alexia and Lily pulled her off of him after laughing with the rest of the class. Professor McGuire, however, was not pleased. "Twenty points from Marauder and Gryffindor for fighting, and detention for Miss Blade and Mister Black. Mister Riddle, please escort these two children to the hospital wing." 

Tom, who was a third year and was Professor McGuire's teacher assistant, went and tried to help Katherine up, but she shrugged off his hand and glared into his eyes defiantly. As Tom escorted Sirius and Katherine past Lindsay, she shook her head. 

"Fighting's bad for you, Katherine. We need world peace," Lindsay said innocently. 

Tom spun around to look at Lindsay with glares, but she didn't notice. Lindsay merely went along with her potion after one long look at Katherine and saying, "Gosh, I hope you're going to be okay." Tom shook his head along with half the class, and walked out the door with Sirius and Katherine. 

As Tom passed Alexia, he glared at her. Alexia glared back, but James heard her muttering words like, "...can't believe...kept his name..." James stared at Alexia, which caused her to turn around. "Is Sirius always like that?" she said in a disapproving tone. 

"Is Katherine always like that?" James shot back. 

Alexia laughed. "Don't let her catch you saying her full name," she advised while cutting up flobberworms. "She'll hurt you badly. Call her Kat." 

James shook his head. "Sirius isn't always like that. But he doesn't like girls beating on him," he said in a good manner. "It makes him seem less the macho dude in everybody's eyes." 

"Well, that's too bad for him," Alexia laughed. "Kat hates the same thing, only vice versa." 

James sighed and leaned against the table behind him. "They're going to get along great, aren't they?" 

Alexia chuckled. 

"Sure. They'll be best of friends." 

***** 

"I think we should visit him," Lindsay chirped as her pigtails flew from side to side. 

Remus snorted. "And say what? 'Hiya Sirius. We wanted to see how badly Kat beat you up?" 

Lindsay's face scrunched up in confusion. "That wouldn't be good?" 

Lily patiently tried to explain. "No, Lindsay. That would get him more mad at Kat, and we don't want that." 

"Ohhh..." Lindsay nodded in understandment while everybody else rolled their eyes. "Well, I think we should visit him anyway. Besides, Kat's in the hospital wing, too. I have to drop off her homework." She held up a huge stack of papers neatly folded and paper-cliped together in different sections. "I don't want her to get behind just because of Sirius." And with that, Lindsay spun around on one shoe, and walked to the infirmary. 

Alexia looked at everybody else. "Well? I kind of want to see how Kat and Sirius are surviving being together." 

In the end, after constant battling, they all agreed to visit Sirius and Kat. 

When James pushed open the doors, he burst out laughing. 

Kat's bed was spinning on the ceiling while she was shrieking, "Get me down from here right now! Sirius! I'll get you back for this! Aaaaaah!" 

Sirius was lying with his head propped up and his hand clenched on his wand. His head was thrown back, and he was laughing so hard his face was bright red. "You go girl!" Sirius at this point couldn't take it anymore and rolled off his bed clenching his stomach and rasping, trying to find enough breath to laugh. 

James, Peter, and Remus were doubling over in laughter, and Lily was trying very hard not to smile. The only thing that spoiled the moment was Lindsay, hiding in the corner, crying. She looked at Kat's bed with the most sympathy and sadness. 

Alexia, however, took out her wand and swiftly got the bed down with a thump. James looked at Alexia in surprise. It was their first day, and how did Alexia learn to do that? Moresoever, he thought amusingly, how did Sirius get Katherine's bed up there? 

By the time they reached Kat, she was pale and gasping for breath. Lindsay immediately rushed over, where she was hiding and crying for Kat. "Oh, are you alright, Kat?" Kat didn't say anything, but merely trying to catch her breath. James was seriously scared now. "Oh my gosh, Kat! Kat!" Lindsay screamed. Lily's hand rushed up to her mouth in a look of terror. Even cool Alexia looked scared. "What's happening to her?" she gasped as Kat's body racked into spasms. 

Peter started to shiver and Remus looked so worried. "Kat?" he murmured into her ears. "Kat, just say it and you'll feel better. Say it." Everybody looked at him puzzlingly, but still pleading that whatever he was doing was going to work. Kat responded with another spasm. "Kat, say it. Say it. Say it!" Remus shouted. Alexia's eyes shot wide open, and she looked like she was going to slap him. 

Suddenly, Kat's chest rose high, and her head dangled in midair until she was sitting straight up. Her honey colored eyes turned bright yellow. 

"By the twelfth moon of the time,   
Paradoxes will bind thy trail,   
Friendship shall lead to crime,   
Eight lives blended in one tale. 

The soldier's protector dies,   
The secret is discovered,   
In the hero's heart lies,   
A flower never watered. 

The protector turns away,   
The traitor does what he does best,   
The trick is locked from the ray,   
And the angel completes the quest. 

The voyage is yours to take,   
But beware the dangers of adventure,   
Once chosen, you cannot break,   
Dare yourself to venture. 

At the first site of blood,   
The pact will be sealed,   
In the night's rosebud,   
The coven is revealed. 

In the innocence, evil lies.   
The children found another,   
When the rest of them dies.   
Long live the last Marauder." 

And with that, Katherine fell back on the bed with a thump and lay there, unmoving. Remus quickly grabbed her wrist, and sighed a breath of relief. "She's still alive," he said. James stared at him curiously amid all the other onlookers, but Remus gave him a I'll-tell-you-later look. 

Madam Pomfrey came in with a bang of the door. "Excuuuse me, but no visitors are allowed in here." She shoved her way past the clutter of people, and placed her hand on Kat's forehead while squinting through her bifocals at Kat's pale face. James held his breath, hoping desperately that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't find out about what just happened. 

She quinted once more, and sighed. "That's it. Out!" She shooed them out of the hospital wing while clucking her tongue. As James passed Sirius, Sirius grabbed his arm. 

"I'll meet you later?" he whispered. 

James nodded, and left the hospital wing with everybody else. 

They all walked in silence until they reached the Marauder House, which lied between the Gryffindor House and the Great Hall. When they reached the door, the awkwardness set in. Shifting his weight from one foot to another and twiddling his thumbs, James finally broke the silence by saying in a voice far louder than necessary, "Well, we'll see you in the morning." 

James pushed Remus and Peter and the all the boys shuffled toward their own house. 

***** 

"Wait," James said, shaking his head in confusion. "Run that whole thing by me again." 

Remus sighed. "Ever since we were little, Kat and I used to play around in the playground by the school. Whenever she went on the spinning wheel, Kat would spaz and start to say gibberish." He shook his head. "In the end, our parents found out that she was a Diviner, a true one, and she was taken out of school so the other kids wouldn't get suspicious." Remus smiled. "I remember she made her first prophecy about how I would . . . never mind." 

Sirius, who had gotten out of the hospital with minor bruises, piped up, "So she spouts out prophecies whenever she gets dizzy?" He let out a long breath and leaned back in the comfy little couch. "Well then. This wouldn't be my fault, would it?" 

James looked at him in exasperation. "You don't feel guilty at all?" 

"Nope." 

Remus looked at Sirius with a little dislike in his eyes. James knew why he felt that way. Remus and Kat were almost like brother and sister. And just like a brother should be, Remus was especially protective of his sister, and anybody who hurt her would, well, ultimately suffer in some way, whether it be from mosquito bites or death. Either one. James would have felt the same way if anybody hurt Julia or Joshua. 

"Hey, guys," Peter suddenly broke in. He had been looking at their courses with immaculate speculation. "We have broomstick riding lessons tomorrow with Madam Pomfrey." 

Sirius swirled around on his foot, and looked at Peter. "Seriously? YES!" He started to bounce around the room pumping his arms into the air and shrieking at the top of his lungs. "I'm gonna be officially riding a broomstick for the first time in my life! WHOO!" Sirius did something that looked like an attempted shot at a somersault. 

James looked at him. "Wait, this is your first time?" He could recount back to all the times Julia and Joshua tried to teach him. He had been a natural, far better than his sister and brother. 

Sirius looked at James for the first time without a smile on his face. "I'm a . . . what do you magic people call us? Oh yes, a Muggle." Sirius had a sneer on his face that James found frightening to look at. Sirius must have seen his James' face, for he immediately said quickly, "Sorry about that. I just don't like people calling me a Mudblood and everything." 

Silence filled the room until Remus cleared his throat. "Well, I think we'd all like to get some sleep, no?" The rest of them nodded in agreement and dived for their beds. In moments, the entire room was full of snores. 

James waited until everybody was asleep before he crept stealthily from his bed and moved silently towards his trunk. With cat-like movements, he opened it up and took out a pale, liquidy fabric. Unknownest to his family, James had taken all his savings and bought an invisibility cloak, which had cost around two hundred Galleons. 

When he turned around, he was face to face with another person. James gave a yelp and fell back on the boards. 

"Shhh!" the person hissed. 

James stood up. "Sirius?" 

"Dur." 

"You spying on me?" 

"...Yep." 

James snorted, and composed himself. "What are you doing?" 

In the moonlight, Sirius looked coy. "I think I should be the one asking that." 

James smiled. "Okay. Ask yourself what you're doing." 

Sirius was silent for a moment. "Dude, that was the worst joke I've ever heard." James chuckled. Sirius said, "So what are you doing exactly?" 

James fell silent. "You have to promise not to tell Remus or Peter though." 

A sudden rustling filled the air. "Too late, James." 

James groaned, and whispered "Lumos" and light filled the room. He found Remus lying the opposite way on the bed with his hands propped up and his head in his palms, looking almost innocent. Remus smiled. "Let Remus know what's going here." 

James groaned again. "Does EVERYBODY have to up when I am?" 

A loud snore came from the lump on Peter's bed. 

"Obviously not," Sirius muttered. 

"Alright," James said, exasperated. "I'm going to go explore the school, okay?" 

Remus snorted. "Eh, James? You're going to get caught. They have teachers walking around at this time." 

James smiled in self-satisfaction. "That's why I brought THIS." With great drama, he whisked out the Invisibility Cloak he was hiding behind his back. Remus and Sirius promptly gasped. 

"Wowie," Sirius breathed as he stepped closer. "You rich little bean." 

James and Remus gave Sirius a look, but all three went back to their inspection of the cloak. 

"Isn't it grand?" James said in a proud way. 

"Oop," Sirius said. He placed his hands on both of James' temples. "Doctor Lupin, I think the patient's head is getting a little big." 

Remus laughed silently. "There is only one cure for that." A pause. "Steal his invisibility cloak!" Remus snatched the Invisibility Cloak from James' hands and threw it at Sirius. Since Sirius tall for his age, all he had to do was stand up tall with his arm that held the cloak high in the air, and James couldn't get it. 

"Alrighty, that's it," James said. The next second, he tackled Sirius. They both landed on the carpet with thumps. In the end, Sirius was on top of James. 

"No more fighting," Sirius gasped. "That other little bean took the best of me." 

"You had nothing in the beginning, Sirius," James said. "You can't beat me." 

Sirius cocked his head to the side. "And yet, the head seems not to get smaller." 

Remus sighed dramatically. "You guys, are we going exploring or not?" 

Sirius whooped as he shook his fist. "And a explorin' we go!" 

***** 

The next day, the four Marauders sat waiting for the boys in the morning. They were quite surprised to see all of them, omiting Peter, come down with bags under their eyes and hair messed up. Lindsay was quite worried. 

"What happened to you guys?" she cried as she placed her hand on James' head. 

Lily smirked at them. "I'm guessing they stayed up all last night exploring." 

James whirled around to face her. "Excuse me?" 

Lily flashed her brilliant teeth at him. "Two points for Lily Oberlin! And the crowd goes wild!" 

Silence filled the table. Lindsay clapped her hands hesitantly. 

Rolling her eyes, Lily muttered, "Some crowd you are." 

They sat down for breakfast, Lily, Lindsay, Kat, and Alexia in that order on one side, with James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus on the other side. 

While they ate, Sirius spoke up. "You know, I've been thinking about this a lot, and I am willing to bet we are more Marauder-ish than you guys." 

"Girls," Lindsay corrected under her breath. 

Kat snorted. "Yeah right." 

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I am right. I know that I am. I know so much that I am right that I'm willing to place a bet." 

"Betting is bad," Lindsay said, shaking both her head and finger at Sirius, who shrugged. 

Alexia, however, looked interested. "What's the bet?" James had a queasy feeling in his stomach. Perhaps it was the eggs, he thought. 

Sirius flashed his debonair smile. "We'll have a prank contest. Whoever wins, will be the true Marauder." 

With a confused look on her face, Lily asked, "But what are the stakes?" 

Letting the anticipation rise, Sirius leaned back in his chair and stretched before replying slowly, "If we win, we are the Marauders, and you guys have to name your House something else." He looked at his fingers, as if inspecting a nail. "And if you win," Sirius drawled extra slowly. "We'll do anything you want with us for a whole day." 

At this point, Remus and Peter sputtered up with complaints, but Sirius waved them away with a whisk of his hand. "Well?" he pryed. 

Alexia shrugged. "Whatever. I don't care, so you guys decide." Lily nodded. "Same here." 

Lindsay looked unsure. "Betting is bad you guys. I don't think this is a good i-" 

At this point, Kat slammed her fist into the table and stood up. "We'll take it." 

Sirius stood up as well. James took note that every single face was looking in their direction. "You got yourself a bet." He held out his hand, which Kat shook with what seemed like more force than necessary. 

Kat grinned. 

"Let the games begin." 

***** 

It all started in flying lessons. Sirius had carefully placed a spell on Kat's broom. It jumped into her hand brutally. When Kat was meant to raise herself at the most six feet into the air, her broom went berzerk. It spiraled straight up at a tremendous speed. 

"Uh oh," James muttered. He remembered what Remus told him about Kat's divining problems. It seems, he thought wryly, that Sirius had accidently forgotten about that. Placing his hands on his own broom, James shot himself up with Kat. From below, he heard the gasps from the girls, and jealous looks from the boys. At around a hundred feet from the ground was Kat, shaking with hands clenched on the handle so hard that her knuckles turned white. She was spazing. 

James quickly grabbed her from her broom, for she had lost control. Right after he got a hold on her, her broom shot back toward the ground. It crashed into the ground and split into several pieces. James, however, had Kat safely on his own broomstick. Maybe she wasn't at the brink of a prophecy, he thought. Hopefully, she's not there yet. He himself lowered himself and Kat to the ground as slowly as he could. Kat was fine by the time they descended. She was really mad, however. 

She marched right over to Sirius, and placed her face into his. "You want pranks? I'll give you pranks," she hissed, and stomped off. 

Peter walked over. "Well, flying lessons was fun." 

The Marauders were all mad for Kat, even Lindsay. However, they got their revenge. In Potions, when Peter asked for some lemongrass juice, Alexia handed him a green liquid that bubbled. Before James could yell out to Peter not to place it in his potion, Peter had dumped the entire bottle of emerald water in his cauldron. 

It promptly exploded. 

When Professor McGuire lectured Peter, Alexia and Lily were doubling in laughter, while even Lindsay managed a smile. Kat, a worse case, was too busy planting Jumping Jellies into Remus and Sirius' bookbags, which they discovered during Herbology. When Remus opened his bookbag, about three dozen tiny cubes came out and bounced everywhere in the classroom. Same thing happened when Sirius opened his bag. Professor Sniggles, a young man who was Hufflepuff leader, just started teaching, took ten points from Gryffindor and made Sirius and Remus find all the Jumping Jellies. 

In Transfiguration, Alexia and Lindsay's stools flipped over, due to a simple Turning Spell by Peter. On the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, the carpet under James' feet was swept to one side, casing him to fall on his back, courtesy of Lily's brilliant Charm spell. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Kat's wand backfired, making her face swell to double its usual size, which was James' doing. In History of Magic, taught by a boring Professor Binns, all of Sirius' notes flew in opposite directions, and Lily's table toppled over and did a few flips. By the end of the day, everybody was quite serious about this bet. Even Lindsay, who during Astronomy had her brand new telescope shatter to pieces. 

But real trouble began for James Potter when he discovered there was a rat in the house by the name of Lucius Malfoy. Another doomed acquaintance would be Lucius Malfoy's role model, Tom Riddle in the third year. And of course, little Severus Snape tagging along with them everywhere. 

It was a day in October when James ran into Lucius Malfoy. He was rushing past the dungeons, when he ran smack dab into Lucius, causing them both to fall onto the ground with thuds. 

"Watch where you're going, Gryffindor!" Lucius spat. 

James' eyebrow shot up. "Well, excuse me, SLYTHERIN." 

Lucius only smiled. "You're that kid that hangs around with the Marauders, aren't you? Trying to mix among all the houses." 

"I don't know what you're talking about." James loooked at Lucius. He noticed a slight pimple trying to pry its way out of the tip of his nose. James tried not to laugh. 

Lucius sneered. "Don't try and put on a fake smile, James." A slight pause. "Even if you wanted to hang around with Tom, Severus, and I, we wouldn't let you. You wanna know why? Because you are a GRYFFINDOR!" 

James now had both eyebrows up in his forehead. 

Luckily, Alexia happened to walk by at that moment. She flashed a cool smile. "Hello, Lucius." 

Lucius gave a little shriek. "H-Hello Alexia." 

"Are you bothering my friend James?" she asked cooly, with a hint of amusement in her voice. 

Lucius sputtered, "N-No...Of c-course not, Alexia." His eyes darted around. "I should be g-going now. Bye, Alexia..." And he scampered off as if a griffin was at his heels. 

*****


	3. The Yule Ball and Other Complications

## James Potter and the Eight Marauders

  


###   
Chapter 3

_Three years later..._

"AAHHHH!" Lily shrieked as the towering pile of baggage threatened to topple over. She ran and did a somersault to get out of harm's way. 

"I never knew you took gymnastics," someone commented as they entered the cabin in which Lily Oberlin was in. She turned around too fast and fell over, but not before realizing who it was. 

"KAT!" Lily cried as she got herself up and crushed Kat with a bear hug. Kat's face turned a weird shade of green while she tried to push Lily off. 

The door opened and Alexia appeared with Lindsay at her heels. "Trying out the Heimlich Maneuver on Kat, eh?" Alexia said amusingly. 

"ALEX! LINDY!" Lily cried as she started in towards them. 

Lindsay quickly put up her hands in self-defense. "Er, not that your hugs are bad or anything, Lily, but...eh..." 

"Your hugs are bad," Kat finished for her, rubbing her arms which had Lily fingerprints pressed into. 

Alexia frowned at Lily. "And what is with the nicknames? I prefer not to be called Alex, thank you very much." 

Lily smiled. "Alright. I just thought it would be cute." 

"Oh, it is cute," Lindsay said reassuringly. 

BANG! 

The door slammed open, making them all turn toward the entrance, where James stood with his baggage in his hands and a gigantic smile plastered on. 

Kat stood up and slammed the door on his face. 

"Oooh," Lindsay said, clucking her tongue. "That wasn't very nice, Kat." She walked over and opened the door graciously for James. "I'm sorry," she apologized. 

James shook his head. "It's fine." He looked at Kat. "Is it okay with you if I sit here with you guys?" 

All faces turned to Kat for the final decision. She stared in silence for a few moments, then managed a small smile. "Fine, as long as-" 

Before she got to finish, Sirius appeared in the doorway...upside down. 

"Sirius is about to enter the building!" he cried. 

Kat's honey colored eyes flamed up. "Not if I can help it," she spat as she started for Sirius with a bulky duffel bag in her hands. 

Sirius gave a little shriek and righted himself up. "Ah! It's the evil kitten! Oooh, evil Kitty!" 

Lily and Lindsay grabbed Kat before she had a chance to cream Sirius. He smiled and dropped his baggage on the floor, threw himself onto one of the seats, and reclined to his leisure. 

"...as long as Sirius doesn't come in," Kat muttered, finishing her sentence. 

Suddenly, the door banged open once more, and Remus and Peter got in the compartment. 

"Oh, look," Alexia said sarcastically. "It's a party." 

Sirius' closed eyes shot open as he sat up. "Did someone say the 'P' word?" 

Kat gave Sirius a huge, fake smile. "Yeah, Sirius. We were just talking about our periods." 

Lily and Alexia sniggered. 

"Oh." 

For once, Sirius was speechless, as he usually was when it came to girl stuff. Blushing, he reclined once again and placed a book over his eyes, and drifted back to sleep. 

***** 

"Why are you always so mean to Sirius?" Lindsay questioned Kat when they were in the carriage. 

Alexia smiled. "Is it because of that whole Marauder thing? 'Cause it's not that big of a deal when you really think about it." 

"It is a big deal!" Kat exclaimed. "It was a good name." She glared at the walls of the carriage. "But they took it." 

Lindsay shrugged. "It wasn't my fault. I stood my ground 'til the end, even when James broke my telescope and the time when Remus unleashed that swarm of Red Caps on me." 

"Well, I'm sorry if I gave up for the entire House, you guys," Lily sniffed. "But I just couldn't stand the pink hair that James said wouldn't go away until the bet was done." 

Kat gave her a friendly pat on the shoulders, and looked out the window. "Which is why we got him back, didn't we?" 

"We?" Lindsay laughed. "It was you who wanted to turn his hair green." 

Alexia smiled. "Only you 'accidently' pointed your wand towards Remus." 

The carriage filled with laughter all the way to Hogwarts. 

***** 

Ever since the bet was taken off, the newly named FaerieKall House chose to ignore the also newly named Marauders. That plan worked extremely well, for the Marauders seemed to have something very peculiar on their minds. The FaerieKall House (KALL stood for Kat, Alexia, Lily, Lindsay) had important things on their minds as well. Therefore, the silent treatment lasted for three years, all through which none of the Faeries had anything to say to the Marauders. 

During the Sorting, the Faeries decided to sit with the Hufflepuffs, who were always the nicest of all the Houses. They adored Lindsay, who was, in their mind, the nicest person in the world. They loved Alexia for her coolness, Kat for her wild personality, and Lily for her bubbly self. 

The Hufflepuffs were also the best gossipers in the school. 

"Did you know," a pretty girl named Jane Keller, who was close to Lindsay, said. "That Molly Fairchild and Arthur Weasley are going out?" 

"That lucky bi-" another girl named Suzan Prewett started to say, but stopped when she looked at Lindsay. 

"Anyways," Jane said, trying to divert Lindsay's attention. "I think that Arthur's cute, but that Tom Riddle's hot." 

Lily almost choked. "But Jane," she gasped. "He's two years older than you!" 

"And he's evil!" Kat added. 

Jane shrugged. "So?" 

"Jane's right," Lindsay said. "All loves are equal in the eyes of the Lord." 

Alexia shot Kat a look, and she returned it. 

"I think that James Potter is quite cute himself," Glory Lowell said, her rich blonde curls flying. 

"Really?" Jane questioned. "I think I have a crush on his best friend." 

Kat fell off her chair, causing the Sorting to stop for a moment. Silence filled the Hall, and everybody's eyes stood fixed upon her. 

Kat's head peeked out from under the table. "Sirius?!" she exclaimed loudly. "You have a crush on Sirius Black?!" Too late did she realize that the room was silent, and everybody had heard her. Jane's face went cherry red. 

The Gryffindor table, however, was a riot. Peter was looking at Sirius with envy, and the rest were giving him cat-calls. Sirius flashed a smile at Jane, and winked at her. 

Jane blushed. 

Lily snorted. 

***** 

The excessive homework kept everybody busy, especially James Potter, who not only had to figure out how to work up a Animagi potion, but also work up enough courage to ask a girl to the Yule Ball. 

He sighed. It was two weeks before the Yule Ball, and he didn't have a date. A lot of girls had asked him, but he declined every single one. James wanted a date, but none of the girls who had asked him was especially nice. 

James slammed the book closed, causing Sirius and Remus to look up from their chess game. 

"Do you guys have any dates?" James asked, exasperated. 

Sirius smiled. "I'm going with Jane Keller." 

James sighed, and looked at Remus, who shrugged. "I'm thinking about asking Lindsay." 

"Argh!" James growled. He threw his pen into the fire, which exploded. "Peter," he shot. "Are you going with anyone?" 

"Yeah," Peter said. 

James, Remus, and Sirius looked surprised, and waited for him to continue. When he didn't, Sirius asked, "Well, who is it?" 

Peter blushed. "Umm...I'd rather not say." 

Sirius dove for Peter, crashed into the floor in the process, picked himself up and sat in Peter's lap. "Aww, c'mon Peter, who is it?" 

"You'll find out at the dance," Peter mumbled, then picked up his book and sat up, causing Sirius to land on the floor with a thump. Peter left the room. 

"I wonder who it is," James pondered. 

The portrait swung open, and Julia Potter with some friends came in. "Hey, James!" 

James waved her over, and asked, "Julia, do you have any idea who Peter Pettigrew is taking to the dance?" 

Her face twisted up into laughter, until she burst out laughing. "Yeah," she managed through giggles. "I know who he's going with." She couldn't go on anymore, her laughter was too much. 

A really sick idea came into James' mind, and he prayed it wasn't true. 

"Julia," he said cautiously. "Are you going with Peter to the dance?" 

Julia's laughter stopped for a moment, then started up again louder than ever. James waited until she stopped. "No," she rasped. "I'm not going with Peter. But you're on the right track." Julia turned to leave, but looked at Sirius pointedly before exiting the room. 

James thought about the look she gave Sirius, and turned to Sirius. "Are you going with Peter to the dance?" 

Grimacing, Sirius said, "No, James. I'm sorry, but my mind doesn't work that way." He shuddered at the thought. 

Remus and Sirius continued on their chess game while James opened his book up once more. 

***** 

Their last visit to Hogsmeade before the Yule Ball was a blast. Everybody was there, and the dress shops were packed full. The Marauders were having the best time ever, and decided to go get some butterbeers after stopping by Zonko's. 

When they entered the Three Broomsticks, however, they found the entire inn packed full, and very crowded. 

"Aww, great," Sirius complained. "We have to find a place to sit, but where?" Since he was one of the tallest people in the year, he craned his neck and gave a whoop. "There's a table over there...and, *gasp* oh my goodness, there's Lindsay. Maybe we should *another gasp* talk to her. Hint, hint, Remus." Sirius nudged Remus in the side. 

"Onward to the Faery Table!" James shouted into the air, causing many customers to stop and turn. He marched over to the table with Sirius in tow where Lindsay and Lily were staring with horror. Kat had her head in her hands, muttering about lunatics. Alexia thought they should be locked up. 

Remus gave them each a dazzling smile. "Hello, ladies." 

"Hi, Remus," Lindsay chirped. 

Sirius nudged Remus again. "That's a good sign," he muttered. He plopped down next to Alexia, and draped his arm around her shoulder. "Hey, babe." He was promptly slapped. 

Remus sat down next to Lindsay, and was rather nervous looking. "Umm...Lindsay?" he squeaked, then cleared his throat. 

"Yeah?" She looked completely oblivious to what's about to happen, James noted. Not a good sign. 

Sirius's eyes were rolling up and down, darting this way and that, trying to tell Remus to hurry up. Kat, however, frowned. "Sirius, what the hell are you doing?" 

Sirius stared at her with a completely neutral face. "I'm exercising my eyes." His eyes suddenly got wide as he stared at Kat. 

"Remus, hello?" Lindsay asked. "Are you there?" 

Remus was too busy collecting his courage to hear her. 

"Let me," Kat said reassuringly at Lindsay, who was apparently worried. "EARTH TO REMUS!" she screamed into his ears. 

Remus jumped and turned his attention to Kat. So did the rest of the shop. Silence filled the air. Kat jumped on the table. "Hello!" Kat said pompously, waving to the entire crowd. Remus and Lily quickly pulled her down. 

"So," Lindsay said again. "What were you trying to say, Remus?" 

"Erm...I was just wondering if you woolitgutdadanwitme." 

"What?" Lindsay asked, confused. "Can you say that again?" 

Remus took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you would go to the dance with me." He suddenly cringed. 

Lindsay instantly blushed. "Um, Remus," she said, embarrassed. "I would, but..." 

At this point, everybody but Remus started to utter complaints, but Lindsay raised her hand. "...but...I'm already going with somebody else." She smiled at Remus. "I'm sorry." 

"But you aren't going with anybody!" Lily cried while Kat and Alexia both asked, "Who are you going with?" 

Lindsay got more red, if that was possible. "You'll see at the dance." She looked at Kat especially when she said, "You'll get mad at me, or you'll be disgusted." 

With his mind going a hundred miles per hour, James blurted, "Are you going with Peter, Lindsay?" 

Smiling at Peter, Lindsay said, "No, I'm not." 

James sighed. "Everybody has a date but me." 

Kat coughed inconscpicuously. "I beg to differ. I don't have a date." 

"I don't either," Alexia added. 

James was surprised. He would have expected them to have dates. "Nobody asked you guys?" he asked incredulously. 

Alexia rolled her eyes. "Let us put it this way, James..." 

"We got a dozen offers the first day it was announced," Kat finished for her. 

"Which we turned down," Alexia added. 

Lily stared at Kat. "You got a dozen? Geez. I only got two the first day." 

"Well," Kat replied, exasperated. "It might be an exageration, Lily. It's not like we were actually counting." She turned to James. "I'm planning on going alone." 

Sirius coughed something that sounded remarkably like, "Loner!" 

Kat reached over and smacked him on his head. 

Looking at Alexia, Remus suddenly asked, "Would you like to go to the dance?" 

Alexia shrugged. "Sure. Whatever." 

"Uh oh," Lily muttered. "Here comes the Pops." 

"Pops?" Peter inquired. 

"It's the term we use for the group of snobby girls that's heading our way right now," Alexia explained. 

James turned to see Jane, Glory, Suzan and a couple other girls headed their way. Jane smiled at Sirius, who smiled back. Lily stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to throw up. 

"Hey, James," Glory said seductively. James's eyebrows shot up into his messy hair. She said in a stern voice, "Take me to the Yule Ball." 

"Aye, aye, captain," Kat mumbled. Remus and Lily cracked up, and even Alexia and Lindsay smiled. 

Paying no attention to Kat, Glory went on. "I've always wanted to ask you James. Would you go with me?" Glory breathed heavily, trying desperately to seem sexy. 

Kat scrunched her face up. "Get a Breathmint." 

Glory whirled around to face her. 

"Uh oh," Lily said. 

"Just because you don't have a date to the Yule Ball," Glory hissed. "Doesn't mean that you have to ruin everybody else's." 

"Well, at least I'm not breathing on guys and ordering them to be my date," Kat shot back. 

Glory stepped up. "I'm not the one who blabbles inconherantly when I get dizzy." 

The table went silent, and James knew that Glory had gone too far. He glanced at Kat, whose yellow eyes flared up. 

"You can't talk to my friends like that!" Lily suddenly yelled, causing everybody's attention to turn to her. 

That was all Kat needed. In one leap, she tackled Glory to the ground and started to punch her with much enthusiasm. It took the better part of Alexia, Lindsay, and Lily to stop her. In the end, Kat's looked like she did before the fight, but Glory's hair was ruffled, her clothes were torn, and her makeup smeared. 

"I'll get you back for this, bitch," Glory hissed while Jane and Suzan helped her up. 

"Try it and I'll break your arms off," Kat threatened. "I swear to God." 

Glory paled, and turned to James. "Seven thirty sharp in front of the Great Hall." She spun on one heel and managed to walk away with some dignity. 

"Wowie," was all that Sirius could say. James and Remus nodded in agreement. 

***** 

"Can you make the hemline a little shorter?" Alexia asked. 

Lily laughed. "Any shorter and he'll be able to see everything!" 

The FaeryKall House was a complete mess. Sewing needles, tinsle, extra food from the kitchens, and pieces of cloth and accessories littered the floor. It was five minutes to seven-twenty, the time in which the Marauders had decided to meet at the FaeryKall common room, which was also the dorm. 

"You know, Lindsay," Lily said sweetly. "It'll be a lot easier for you to tell us who you are going with." 

Lindsay, in her stunning white robes with peach linings and her hair in a long French braid, smiled while putting on a gold necklace with a cross. "You'll just have to find out at the dance." 

Lily blew raspberries at Lindsay, then looked at Alexia. "Man, you have got to let me borrow that dress someday," she said in wonder. 

The thigh-high sky blue dress fitted Alexia to perfection, and the silver dreamcatcher earrings tinkled every time she moved her head. Her feet held silver strappy heels. A tiara hung on her head where her black hair was set in a bun. Alexia scoffed. "Take a look at yourself in the mirror, Lily, and tell me that the girl you see isn't pretty." 

Turning to the mirror, Lily stared at her reflection. She saw a girl with her auburn hair set in a bun with two green chopsticks wearing a long spaghetti strap emerald dress. On her feet were straw sandals. Lily made a face in the mirror. "The only reason why I look halfway decent is because of all the charms you guys put on me." 

Alexia paused for a second. "Yeah, true." 

Lily threw a shoe at her. 

Suddenly, the bathroom door flew open, and there stood Kat. She had a blood red square neck, sleeveless dress. The hemline was up to her thighs in the front, then descended to the ground in the back. On her arm was a golden band made from a line of lions. She was wearing black boots. 

"Talk about Gryffindor pride," Alexia noted. 

Placing her hands on her hips, Kat mock glared at Alexia. "Well, excuse me, Miss Salazar." 

A knock came from the portrait. "Guys?" a muffled voice said. "What's the password?" 

"Jubilee!" Alexia shouted as Lily and Lindsay squealed and ran into the bathroom, pulling Kat with them. 

In a moment, four guys came tumbling from the portrait hole. 

"Hi ho," Sirius chirped from under Peter. 

Remus was staring at Alexia with appreciation in his eyes. He held out his hand, which Alexia took with a small smile. 

"Where's everybody else?" James asked Alexia with confusion. 

Alexia smiled. "They're in the bathroom." 

"But we're coming out!" Kat's voice said. The bathroom door opened and Lindsay walked gracefully from the doorway. The Marauders gaped at her. 

Lindsay laughed nervously. "I'm guessing that's a good sign?" 

Next out came Kat. The Marauders jaws dropped some more. Then, lastly, came Lily, and they're jaws went as far down as it could possibly go. 

Kat shook her head. "Pervs," she muttered. 

When they got to the Great Hall, they saw Glory all fixed up with a periwinkle blue showy dress and her blonde locks perfect. "Hi, James," she cooed as she ran her fingers up his arm. Lily rolled her eyes as Kat looked on with disgust. 

Suddenly, Tom Riddle ran up and tapped Lindsay on the shoulder. When she turned around, Tom stepped back in shock, then smiled, unsure. "You look...beautiful," he breathed. Lindsay blushed as she took his hand. 

"Tom Riddle's your date?!" Alexia said in disbelief. 

Lindsay blushed. "Yeah..." she said quietly as Alexia and Tom gave each other death stares. 

"That hemline's a little short, isn't it, Alexia?" Tom asked despitefully. 

Alexia glared back and smiled. "Remus doesn't seem to mind." Remus blushed a deep red. "Besides, who do you think you are?" She stepped up to him. "My big brother?" Alexia turned sharply and tugged at Remus's arms. "Let's go, Remus." They walked into the Great Hall. 

Kat went up to Tom and got up her courage to stare into those green eyes. She patted his chest. "It's alright, Tom. No matter what anybody says, remember that you will always be a big brother to someone out there in the world," she said dramatically and then she turned and cruised into the Great Hall, where she was immediately bombarded by Luke Noggle, a fifth-year who had the biggest crush on her. 

Peter suddenly squeaked. "Here she comes," he said in excitement. James turned to see who it was. A pretty little girl with straight black hair and dark blue eyes walked up. 

"Hey, Siren," Sirius said as he went over and ruffled the girl's hair, who protested. "Whatcha doing here, 'lil sis?" 

Siren looked at Sirius with confusion. "Didn't he tell you? I'm going to the Yule Ball with Peter." 

Silence filled the air. Sirius turned toward Peter slowly. "Excuse me?" he growled. 

In the corner of his eye, James saw Kat frantically whispering something in Jane Keller's ear, and Jane was nodding. She sprinted for Sirius, who was about to kill Peter, literally. "Sirius!" Jane yelled. As he turned, Jane grabbed his face and planted a long, passionate kiss on his lips. Kat was smiling from the sidelines. James smiled too. It seemed to have gotten Sirius's attention from Peter and Siren, who quickly darted into the Great Hall. 

"Wowie," Sirius murmured as he stared into Jane's fawn eyes. 

Jane giggled and led Sirius into the Great Hall. 

***** 

James looked around the Hall, and saw that Lindsay and Tom were in terrible contrast. The girl had on white robes, and the Tom had on black ones. He sat alone, for Glory had been getting on his nerves, and she had left in a huff when James told her to scram. When he saw Lily dancing with Amos Diggory, who was in the seventh year, he felt a pang. Alexia and Remus were slow dancing, while Sirius was dancing with Jane. 

A slight movement to his left caused James to look up from his untouched cookie. Kat smiled at him. 

"Having fun, James?" she asked as she sat herself down. 

"The best," he said grumpily. 

Kat patted him on the shoulder, then looked around in confusion. "Where's Gory Glory?" 

"I told her to scram, so she left," James explained. "She wouldn't stop talking about how lucky I was to have her." 

"Eck," Kat said disgustingly. She glanced over at Glory, who was glaring at them. "Well, she seems to be quite mad. She's shooting evil glares at you." Kat smiled widely. 

James glanced at her. "Did someone spike the punch, or are you just really happy?" 

"I'm always like this," Kat said, smiling. 

James smiled too. Kat's smiles were too contagious. "Wanna make Glory more jealous?" he asked wickedly, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. He knew that Kat hated Glory with a passion. 

Smiling back, Kat replied, "Okay." 

James hugged Kat, and whispered, "Get ready," into her ear. Pushing Kat off her chair, he lowered himself and her to the ground, where the table cloth covered them from the people. He could hear the gasp from onlookers as the music stopped. He was pretty sure everybody was staring. Especially Glory. 

Kat was shocked at first, but started to get into the act as well. She started to moan extremely loud. "Oh, James," she breathed. Her face remained with a smile on it. James smiled. 

"Kat, My Kat," he groaned. 

Kat shook her head and mouthed, "My cat? What the hell?" at James. 

James, however, was getting into it. "Kitty, ohh, little Kitty," moaned James. 

Kat slapped his head, which resounded into the Hall. 

"Erm...that slap is going to sound rather weird, isn't it?" whispered James softly. 

Kat quickly placed one hand over her mouth to keep herself from cracking up. James started to smack his lips, which made it seem like they were kissing deeply. Kat took two handfuls of her dress and started to rub them together, making it seem like they were having a wonderful time. They were both sitting up at this time, and were at least a foot apart. 

"Miss Blade and Mr. Potter, please get up." 

Kat and James looked up to find Dumbledore standing over them, smiling with a twinkle in his eyes. They immediately stood up, and a gasp came from the crowd. Glory looked so mad, James noted, and Kat seemed to have noticed, for her wicked smile got wider. 

"Please come with me," Dumbledore said. Kat and James followed him down the hall and toward his office. "Hot goobers," Dumbledore said, and the gargoyle stepped aside. 

"Hot goobers?" Kat mumbled quietly with a mixture of amusement and horror on her face. 

Dumbledore motioned towards the seats. "Please sit." He sat down at his desk, and looked at Kat and James. "Now, as I am sure we all enjoyed your little show, I won't be expecting this to happen again, alright?" Kat and James both nodded. "Alright," Dumbledore sighed. "I also need to talk to you two about separate matters as well. James, can you go get the other Faeries?" James nodded, and left the room. 

Kat shifted uncomfortably in the seat. Her smile had disappeared. "Kat," Dumbledore began. "I know about your gift." 

Her head snapped up, and her yellow eyes blazed. "What gift?" 

"Your gift of seeing the future, of course," Dumbledore said softly. 

Shaking her head, Kat said, "I don't know any gift. I don't have a gift. I only have a curse." 

Dumbledore smiled. "It's a curse that's traveled throughout your entire family lineage, isn't it? All of your sisters and brothers have it, don't they?" Kat nodded. "How is your family anyway?" Dumbledore asked. 

Kat looked at the ceiling in thought. "Jayce and Pearl are doing fine. They're doing good in their studies at Salem Academy. April wasn't accepted into any wizarding school, although her magic skills are quite extraordinary. I don't understand that part. But Xavier and Sean are being natural trouble-makers. Harmony got sick, but she's better now." 

Frowning, Dumbledore asked, "But what about the oldest, what was his name...Isaac?" 

Kat looked away at this point. "He...died. Was killed when there was a raid when he went to the local store." Tears threatened to fill her eyes, but she blinked them away. Kat refused to cry. 

Dumbledore nodded. "It was Grindelwald, wasn't it?" 

"Probably," Kat said. 

"We'll talk later," Dumbledore said, suddenly rising from the desk. "Your friends are coming right now." 

Sure enough, a second later, Lindsay, Lily, and Alexia rushed through the door. 

"What's wrong, Dumbledore Sir?" Lindsay asked. She looked at Kat with worried eyes. 

"I need to talk to all of you," Dumbledore said quietly. James shifted his weight uncomfortably. Certainly he didn't belong here, he thought to himself. "It's okay, James," Dumbledore said. "You can stay and listen." 

He sat down, and motioned for everybody else to sit down as well. 

"I think it's time to talk about why we made another House, and why you four girls were chosen." 

*****


	4. Life's Weary Eyes

## James Potter and the Eight Marauders

  


###   
Chapter 4

Lily instantly listened. 

"See, it starts with the evil wizard, Grindelwald. I'm sure you all know him?" Dumbledore got nods from all over the room except from Lily. 

"Who's Grindelwald?" Lily asked with her face scrunched up in confusion. 

"Grindelwald," Dumbledore started. "Is an extremely evil wizard. Some of us in this room know the kind of cruel acts he can perform, right?" 

At this point, Lindsay and Kat looked at the ground. 

"There's this thing that goes far back into history. I'm sure you all have read about Covens?" said Dumbledore. Everybody looked confused. "Ah, I guess not. Well, you see, a Coven is a formation of witches or wizards, and a Coven has enormous powers, but none are formed that easily, for each person in the Coven has to have complete faithfulness to everybody else in the Coven. A Coven can be formed two ways. One way is to have four people of the same sex from the same House that are completely faithful to each other make a potion and mix it in their blood. Another way, the more powerful way, is to have four people of the female sex, one from each House, who are completely faithful to each other mix bloods among themselves. The last one is much more powerful, and the power will be multiplied many times if you pick the four females carefully." 

Dumbledore stopped for a minute. "You can probably guess where I'm going with this." He took a deep breath. "We need to defeat Grindelwald. He's becoming a big threat, and he's going too far. So, four years ago, I picked the best girl from each House, hoping that you would agree with this plan and help save the magic world." 

Kat burst out laughing. Everybody stared at her, except Dumbledore, like she was crazy. "Whoa whoa whoa," she managed between chuckles. "Are you saying that we-Kat moved her hands to include everybody in the room-are supposed to save the world? This is such a soap opera situation." 

She shot out of her chair, and walked over to Alexia. "C'mon, Alexia. It's time to save the world. And while we're out there, let's run up the Himalayas and walk across the Pacific Ocean." 

She spun towards Dumbledore. "You are crazy. We are just a couple of kids. You expect us to save the world?" 

Dumbledore nodded, then motioned for Kat to sit down, but she refused to. "Well, Miss Blade," Dumbledore sighed. "I didn't think all of you would agree to this, but I thought you would want to do thi-" 

"Oh, trust me," Kat interrupted. "I want to do this." She slammed her fist down on Dumbledore's desk. "I am going to avenge my brother's death. I swear it." 

Dumbledore nodded, and looked at Lindsay, who was in deep thought. "Miss Fletcher? I was thinking you might have the same thought as Kat?" 

Lindsay's eyes closed for a second, and tears poured forth. She sighed, and her innocent face didn't look half so innocent for a second. "Yes, I agree," said Lindsay quietly, with determination. "My sister deserves as much." 

Turning his attention to Lily, Dumbledore asked, "Miss Oberlin? Well?" 

With a little hesitation, Lily asked, "Professor Dumbledore...was it Grindelwald who killed my parents?" 

James looked in surprise at Lily. He never knew her parents were dead, but as he looked around the room, everybody else knew. 

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so, Miss Oberlin." 

Slowly, rising out of her chair, Lily stood up. "Then, yes, I am in this as well." 

Lastly, Dumbledore looked at Alexia. "Miss Quan?" 

Alexia stood up as well. "Definitely," said Alexia with silent menace. 

Dumbledore nodded, and turned to James. "Perhaps I should explain your need in this, Mr. Potter." He smiled at James. "I need you to keep your friends from this for as long as you can. Can you do that?" James nodded. "Good." Dumbledore turned back to the girls. "In order to have this work out, I need you to tell each other all the things you've been keeping back from them. Everything. Then, take a knife, and mix your blood with each others. Within 24 hours, you should be able to notice the change. I'll call you later on to tell you what to do." 

Alexia raised her hand, and asked, "But what do we have against this Grindelwald dude?" 

Dumbledore smiled. "When the Coven is activated, your gifts will be heightened. But remember this," said Dumbledore in a low voice. "Your gifts are also your curses. And, Miss Blade, when the Coven is fully working, you WILL be able to run up the Himalayas and walk across the Pacific." He waved them off, and they exited the room, slightly dazed. They never heard his last words. 

"Good luck...you'll need it." 

***** 

"I've always had a weird obsession with chocolate," Lily revealed with great drama. 

Lindsay giggled. "I'm not sure that's what they meant by secrets, Lily." She sighed. "Well, I have, well, had, a little sister. Her name was Joanna, and she was the best sister." Turning her head, Lindsay continued, "Then one day, she was playing with her neighbor in their front yard, just when Grindelwald and his followers came by." Her voice started to crack at this point. "To show that he had no mercy for anybody, not even a seven year old girl, he...performed the Crucio spell on her...and left her like that for over an hour!" 

Alexia dropped her brush in horror as Lily's hand went up to her mouth. Lindsay broke down completely. "I couldn't help her, I couldn't even help her," she sobbed. "I remember holding her, having her tremble and scream in pain in my arms. She cried out for me to stop it, to stop the torture. But I couldn't." Lindsay stopped a while to fully cry. Each sob pulled at her heart. "She should be attending her first year here at Hogwarts right now. But no, she's in St. Mungo's for the Insane. Everytime I go and visit Joanna, she just sits there with this blank face. How much I try to get a smile, just a little one, out of that little face, nothing works." 

Silence filled the air except for Lindsay's occasional sobs. Lily went over to Lindsay's bed and comforted her. Soon, Alexia and Kat got over the shock and went as well. 

Kat smiled at Lindsay. "You're not the only one who hates Grindelwald. He took my brother's life." She sighed. "My parents died when I was ten, so we lived with my grandmother. My four sisters and three brothers, and me. I was second oldest, so I was sometimes in charge of everybody. My brother went to go get the groceries for that one day. Isaac, as the oldest, felt it was his duty. He came back in a coffin." Kat didn't cry, but her voice broke. "I had to be there when all the little kids found out." She shook her head. "How are you supposed to tell your little sister or brother when they ask about their dead older brother? I remember April running to tell me that Isaac couldn't be dead, that he still hadn't brought home the oranges she loved. Jayce crying by the fire, Pearl standing on the roof, threatening to take her own life. Harmony asking me where Isaac was. Sean and Xavier walking around like zombies. Grandmother helped me, but I had to watch all that." 

Lily looked around the room. "Well, my parents were killed by Grindelwald. They were coming through our neighborhood and slaughtering everybody. Petunia and I, we hid under her bed. We heard the Death Eaters gang rape our mother in the next room. The cruel laughter and my mom's crying. Grindelwald himself tortured my dad, burned him in our fireplace. After they were finished with my mom, they did Avada Kedavra on her...and shoved her under Petunia's bed." Lily started to shiver. "I stared at my mother's beaten, lifeless face under there, and couldn't scream or cry or anything, for fear that the Death Eaters would find me and Petunia." Lily suddenly stopped, and burst into tears. 

After some awkward patting, Alexia started her story. "Erm, I think I should start out with saying that...uh..." Alexia looked at Lindsay, before taking a deep breath. "Um...Tom Riddle's my brother..." When nobody responded (how could they? they were all in shock.), she continued. "Our mother died giving birth to me, but Tom's always been a good brother, and he never blamed me for her death, ever. But our dad left her a little after Tom was born, saying he wanted a daughter as an excuse. My mother was too naive to know that it was because she was magic did he really leave. So when she learned she was pregnant, she tried to tell him, but he wouldn't let her. In the end, she prayed that it would turn out to be a daughter. Well, it did. But Tom and I went through countless foster homes, and we split somewhere in the middle. I changed my name because I did not want my stupid father's last name, Riddle. However, Tom kept it for some reason." 

Silence filled the room once more. 

Lily sniffed. "Let's go on to happier secrets, like my obsession for chocolate." Giggles suddenly burst through the nervous and sad atmosphere. "Hey!" Lily exclaimed. "Let's make this into a Truth or Dare game. Okay, Kat, why do you not have a boyfriend and why are you not interested. I mean, you're fourteen." 

Kat mocked thought. "Well, I know that I am strong and pretty tough, but all I ask for in a guy is that he can beat me at wrestling...or something." 

Laughter filled the room. "Whaaat?" Kat protested. "Fine then, Lily. Who do you have a crush on?" 

The room quieted as Lily smiled. "Promise not to tell anybody. I like...James Potter." 

Brief applause resounded in the room. "You'll get him, Lily," Lindsay reassured her. 

Lily glared at Kat. "Not when Kat's around. He didn't seem to be able to keep his hands off of her during the Yule Ball." Lily sat up straighter. "But it's okay. I don't blame you, Kat. In fact, it's perfectly fi-" 

"Aww, shaddup," Kat groaned. Lily stopped. "It wasn't like that at all, Lily." Kat explained what really happened during the Yule Ball. Everybody cracked up at the James making smacking noises. 

"Wait, you guys," Alexia suddenly burst in. "I think we should start the Coven ritual now." 

Lily took a deep breath. "Yeah, we should." 

Kat rose and got a knife from her sock drawer, and drew a breath. "Okay, ready?" One by one, they pierced their right palms with a streak of blood that ran through the middle. After shaking each other's hands, they washed the blood off and bandaged their hands. 

"That's it?" Lindsay questioned. "Isn't this a little too easy to form a Coven?" 

Lily shrugged. "It's probably because hardly anybody are faithful to a Slytherin, and no Slytherin would go near a Gryffindor, and everybody thinks Hufflepuffs are too sweet to trust." 

"Yeah," they all agreed in unison. 

Silence and thought filled the air. 

"Sooo, Alexia," Lindsay said happily. "Truth or Dare?" 

The Truth or Dare game continued til midnight, and since they couldn't do the dares, Lindsay wrote them down, and they would do them tomorrow. Which meant that the next day would be full of surprises. 

***** 

In the Gryffindor common room, things were a different matter. 

"Hey, Sirius," James said cheerfully as he came in through the portrait door. 

Sirius, however, just turned away and started to talking to Yelle Abott, a second year who seemed to be happy Sirius bestowed his attention on her. James was puzzled, and a little mad. He walked over to where Remus was reading a book. "Remus?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Is something wrong with Sirius? Is he mad at me?" 

Remus put the book down. "James, I really don't know. Sirius wouldn't talk to me either. I think something happened between Jane and him. Now leave me alone, I'm at a good part." 

James sighed and went up to bed. 

***** 

The next morning, James and Remus walked down the stairs to find Sirius sitting with the Faeries, and seemed to be having fun. When James sat down next to Lily, however, Sirius's posture quickly stiffened. Remus patted James's shoulder. 

"What's going on?" James asked Lily. 

She smiled at him. "We were up playing Truth or Dare last night, and we're finishing up our Dares." 

James whispered quietly in her ear, "Are you guys a...Coven?" 

Lily's smile disappeared, and she nodded solemnly. "Yeah, but I haven't felt anything different." 

"Hey, Lily," Lindsay said, yanking Lily and James from their brief conversation. "Kat's doing the last dare." 

"Ooh," smiled Lily. "This should be good." She started to rub her hands together and grinning evilly. 

James watched with interest as Kat walked over to the Slytherin table, where everybody sneered at her. She was talking with Tom Riddle for a second, then he rose from the table and stood up. They talked for the longest time, and James almost fell asleep. Suddenly, with lightning movements, Kat grabbed Tom's wand. She twirled it in her fingers, while Tom's face got bright red. Kat leaned close and whispered something, flipped Tom his wand, and walked back. 

When Kat walked back to the Gryffindor table, she was smiling. "Damn," she breathed. Looking at Lindsay, Kat said, "Your guy has one bloody temper, Lindsay! WHOO!" 

Laughter erupted from the table, except for Sirius. Alexia seemed to notice. "What's wrong with you today, Sirius? You're not really smiling." 

Sirius shook his head, but Lindsay seemed to mind. "Ah, c'mon Sirius. What's wrong? We can help you." 

Again, Sirius shook his head. "So, Kat, are you interested in James?" he said, changing the subject rather quickly. 

Kat's eyebrows went up. "No. Didn't he explain what happened last night?" Sirius shook his head, so Kat quickly explained what really happened. "It was just a joke," she finished. 

"Now will you please start talking and tell us what's wrong?" Lily persisted. 

Sirius sighed. "I'm going out with Jane Keller." 

Remus and Alexia applauded while Kat whistled. Lindsay hugged Sirius. "Congrats," Lily commented with a smile on her face. Only James didn't say anything. 

Sirius looked at James, who shrugged. "Is that why you wouldn't talk to me?" 

Smiling disappearing, Sirius shook his head. "Sorry, James. It wasn't about you." 

James smiled. "In that case...CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT WITH JANE KELLER, SIRIUS!" James shouted in the air. Everybody in the Hall turned to Sirius and started clapping and cat-calling. 

"Sirius, I think your girlfriend is morphing into a tomato," Kat commented with a wild smile on her face. Sirius and James turned, and saw that Jane had turned to the color of a bright cherry. 

***** 

Finals came two weeks before the year ends. 

In Charms, Lily got top ranks. Transfiguration, however, was James's specialty. Astronomy went to Remus. Potions, surprise surprise, went to Alexia and Lucius. Herbology and Care of Magical Creature went to Lindsay. In Dueling, Sirius got full marks along with Kat and Tom. Kat's one favorite class, however, was Divination, even though the teacher was a piece of fluff. 

At the train station, a mob of chestnut haired, honey eyed little kids attacked them. "Hello," said a particularly small one with wavy light brown hair. "My name's Harmony. What's yours?" 

James smiled down at her. "I'm James, and this is Alexia, Lily, Lindsay, and Sirius." Sirius made a face at Harmony, who giggled. 

"But where's Uncle Remmy?" asked Harmony. 

"Uncle Remmy, is it?" said Sirius with an amused expression. "Well, I'll go get your Uncle Remmy." In a moment, Sirius walked back with Remus in a headlock. "Is this man your Uncle Remmy?" 

Harmony nodded, then started to whimper. "What are you doing to him? Don't hurt Remmy!" 

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" said a sharp voice behind them. James and Sirius whirled around with some difficulty in Sirius's part with Remus under his arm. 

It was Kat. 

In regular clothes. 

Sirius's eyes popped open at Kat's low cut T-shirt, bellbottoms, and Nikes. "K-Kat?" 

"Yeah," said Kat icily. "And what are you doing to my little sister?" 

"Her?" sputtered Sirius, pointing at Harmony. "E-Er, no-nothing. At all." 

Kat held her arms out for Harmony, who rushed in. "Aww, is the evil Mr. Black hurting you?" She smiled devilishly at Sirius, then turned her attention to Remus. "Hey, Remus, we're taking you home...Let go of him, Sirius...Let him go...Eww! What are you doing?" 

Sirius had stuffed his finger up Remus's nostril. 

Seeing that he wasn't going to release Remus, Kat took things into her own hands. She pounced onto Sirius, and knocking him onto the floor with her on top. 

"Now I know why they call you Kat," gasped Sirius who had the wind knocked out of him. 

"Ha ha," replied Kat sarcastically. She picked herself up, dusted off, then proceeded to herd the remaining mob of carbon copies of Kat and the now dancing Uncle Remmy into the car. "See ya guys later!" she called, waving. 

As the car passed, Sirius and James both blew a kiss at Kat. 

She stuck a rather rude finger out the window in response. 

At this point in time, a nice little woman with black hair ran up and yanked Lily into a big bear hug. "Oh, Lily," she gasped. "I missed you so much." 

A spindly looking girl with the same red hair as Lily showed up behind her. "So, Lil," she sneered. "Do you have a boyfriend? Or are you so messed up that you're gay?" 

This was obviously Petunia, James thought with disgust. And the black haired woman was obviously not her mother. Probably foster mother. 

Saving Lily from her tears, James swept up gracefully and placed his arm around Lily's shoulders. "I'm James Potter," he said politely. "Lily's boyfriend." He could feel Lily's surprise. Petunia goggled. Oh you wish, thought James to himself. You wish you were her boyfriend. Yeah, if only. 

***** 


End file.
